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Sound Symbolism in Shakespeare's Sonnets: Evidence of Dramatic

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Sound Symbolism in Shakespeare's Sonnets: Evidence of Dramatic English Language and Literature Studies; Vol. 7, No. 4; 2017 ISSN 1925-4768 E-ISSN 1925-4776 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Sound Symbolism in Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Evidence of Dramatic Tension in the Interplay of Harsh and Gentle Sounds Cynthia Whissell1 1 Psychology Department, Laurentian University, Canada Correspondence: Cynthia Whissell, Psychology Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada. E-mail: [email protected] Received: September 4, 2017 Accepted: September 21, 2017 Online Published: November 2, 2017 doi:10.5539/ells.v7n4p1 URL: http://doi.org/10.5539/ells.v7n4p1 Abstract This paper addresses the role of meaningful sounds in poetic communication. A sound symbolic system (Whissell, 2000) was employed to score Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets in terms of the percentage of Harsh (e.g., sh, oo, r, k, p) and Gentle (e.g., l, long e, th, eh, m) sounds in each line. Significant differences in the employment of emotional sounds across lines suggest that the structure of the sonnets is affectively dramatic. Four stages unfold across three quatrains and a couplet. These are the establishment of the problem (lines 1-4; excess of Harsh sounds), its enlargement (lines 5-8; greater dominance of Harsh sounds), multiple emotional reversals (lines 9-12; alternating ascendance of Gentle and Harsh sounds), and a closing coda (lines 13, 14; an echo of the sounds in the first quatrain). In the order of their publication, which has been touted as potentially autobiographical, the sonnets provide a picture of repeated swings between Gentle and Harsh emotional extremes. Individual sonnets critically recognized for their distinctive emotional tone display the appropriate preponderance of Gentle or Harsh sounds. Keywords: sound symbolism, emotion, Shakespeare, sonnets 1. Introduction 1.1 Sounds in Shakespeare’s Sonnets When Shakespeare’s sonnets are read aloud, they can be heard to include many emotionally harsh sounds such as sh, oo, and k (all found in the word “shook”), as well as many emotionally gentle ones such as l, v, and long e (found in “lovely”). It is argued here that emotionally communicative sounds establish dramatic tension and characterize reversals of affect (voltas) within the sonnets. The emotional effects of sound structures in the sonnets need not have been achieved at a conscious level; Shakespeare was a consummate dramatist so it is not necessary to assume that he purposefully manipulated sounds when creating his poems. Shakespeare’s works have been studied assiduously for the past several centuries. They have been analyzed by those famous in their own right such as Samuel Johnson (Note 1) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (Note 2) as well as a plethora of others, and they continue to be analyzed today for several reasons. Some critics are passionately attached to the works themselves, while others are eager to apply new modes of understanding to materials of import. Vendler (1997) studied and wrote about Shakespeare’s sonnets for the first of these reasons (“Why should I add another book to those already available? ... because I admire the sonnets,” p. 1). Kohonen, Katajamäki, and Honkela (Note 3), on the other hand, applied neural networking models to the sonnets in order to demonstrate the “advantage of the self-organizing maps analysis” in the study of literary texts. The research in this article was conducted for both of the above reasons—an admiration of the sonnets and a desire to throw new light on them by applying a new method of analysis. 1.2 Structure of the Sonnets and the Collection of Sonnets One hundred and fifty-four sonnets attributed to Shakespeare were published as a group in a 1609 quarto volume. A facsimile of the quarto sonnets is reprinted by Vendler (1997). Each sonnet contains 14 lines (there are two exceptions: sonnet 99 has 15 lines and sonnet 126 has only 12), and each is structured in a pattern of three quatrains followed by a couplet (Q1, Q2, Q3, and C). The sonnets were written in iambic pentameter, a 10-part meter of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables (for example, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” where the five stressed syllables are underlined). The rhyming structure for Shakespeare’s sonnets is abab, cdcd, 1 ells.ccsenet.org English Language and Literature Studies Vol. 7, No. 4; 2017 efef, gg: line 1 rhymes with line 3, line 2 with line 4, line 5 with line 7, and so on. A sample sonnet (10) is reproduced in Table 1 where its quatrains, couplet, and rhyming pattern are identified. Table 1. Sonnet 10 analyzed in terms of its structure and sound patterns Quatrain/Function Line Text Rhyme Tone %H %G* Q1 1 For shame! deny that thou bear'st love to any, a Gentle 29 43 Introduction to the problem 2 Who for thy self art so unprovident. b Mixed 30 30 3 Grant, if thou wilt, thou art belov’d of many, a Gentle 33 30 4 But that thou none lov'st is most evident: b Mixed 24 38 Q2 5 For thou art so possess'd with murderous hate, c Harsh 36 18 Enlargement of the problem 6 That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire, d Harsh 38 21 7 Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate c Harsh 52 15 8 Which to repair should be thy chief desire. d Harsh 2 35 Q3 9 O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind: e Gentle 12 42 Reversal and Resolution 10 Shall hate be fairer lodg’d than gentle love? f Mixed 28 34 11 Be, as thy presence is, gracious and kind, e Mixed 32 32 12 Or to thyself at least kind-hearted prove: f Harsh 43 33 C 13 Make thee another self for love of me, g Gentle 13 50 Reversal, Coda 14 That beauty still may live in thine or thee. g Gentle 23 50 Note. *%H: percentage of Harsh sounds in the line, %G: percentage of Gentle sounds. Each sonnet operates as a packaged whole and unfolds its own plot; it presents, enlarges, and then resolves a problem which makes it dramatic rather than merely lyrical in form (Berkelman, 1948). Hunter (1953) suggests that Shakespeare’s audience should forego the autobiographical approach to the sonnets (which looks for clues to the author’s life story in their structure and content) in favor of the dramatic approach (which focuses on the author’s attempt to create dramatic tension and resolve it within the sonnet form). Hunter’s argument is partly based on the fact that Shakespeare was, first and foremost, a dramatist. When Dubrow (1981) argues forcibly against the dramatic nature of the sonnets, she is referring to the fact that they are not narratives and that they do not take place in real time. These arguments do not exclude the possibility that sonnets rely on dramatic tension for their effect. For Vendler (1997, p. 25), the sonnets represent “a mind working out positions” so that Q1 states a problem, Q2 enlarges upon it, and Q3 resolves it. Vendler stressed the fact that the resolution occurs in Q3, not C, the coda, which summarizes the whole and sounds the closing note. Berkelman (1948) also observed that sonnets generally “turn” on line 9, and that the problem begins to be resolved there. Sonnet writing advice “For Dummies”® (Note 4) labels Q1 as an exposition, Q2 as an extension or complication, Q3 as a twist or reversal and C as a summary with a concluding image. The model of sonnet as unfolding affective drama can be applied to sonnet 10 (Table 1). The person to whom Shakespeare addressed sonnet 10 is loved but not loving (Q1); in fact this person is filled with inappropriate hate (Q2); the person is encouraged to change for the better (Q3), and the couplet (C) brings the poet into the picture and finalizes the advice. The pattern of problem, enlargement, resolution, and coda is also evident in well-known sonnets such as number 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”) which opens with a description of an imperfect mistress (Q1), expands upon her imperfections (Q2), brings the mistress back to earth (Q3), and closes with an expression of affection (C), and number 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”) which praises the loved one’s beauty (Q1), and points out that beauty in nature tends to fade (Q2), but that even Death cannot cause the memory of the loved one to fade (Q3), because the poet sings its praises (C). Many critics have questioned whether the order in which the sonnets were published could be attributed to Shakespeare himself, and whether the sonnets as a group tell an autobiographical story (e.g., Crosman, 1990; Hunter, 1953; Vendler, 1997, p. 14). From the viewpoint of reader response criticism, Risden (2017, p. 14) asserts that Shakespeare’s sonnets, and especially those in the first two sections, create “veiled plots” which encourage the reader to “fill out the narrative with guesses” with reference to the author’s biography. Kernot, Bossomaier, & Bradbury (2017) employed linguistic analyses to successfully differentiate the Procreation sonnets (1-17) from the Rival Poet sonnets (78-86) and the Dark Lady sonnets (127-154), again pointing to a meaningful organization of sonnets within the collection. Even if the sonnets do not tell the story of the author’s life, the collection is seen as being structured rather than random. For example, Vendler describes sonnets 40 through 42 as “betrayal sonnets” (1997, p. 217) and draws parallels between them and sonnets 133 through 136. Comments such as these suggest that sonnets of a similar mood are found in close proximity to one another in 2 ells.ccsenet.org English Language and Literature Studies Vol.
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